As the world’s leading AIDS researchers gather for the International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C., scientists report that despite gains in controlling the spread of HIV, the disease has continued to spread at an alarming rate in the very population in which it first appeared — gay men.

In a series of papers in the Lancet dedicated to the dynamics of HIV among gay men — a group epidemiologists define as men who have sex with men (MSM) — scientists say that the continued burden of AIDS in this group is due to a combination of lifestyle and biological factors that put these men at higher risk. Rates are rising in all countries around the world.

In one study, led by Chris Beyrer, of the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, researchers analyzed surveillance reports and studies of HIV among MSM, including data that were part of routine United Nations reporting from member nations. Rates of HIV among gay men ranged from 3% in the Middle East to 25% in the Caribbean. In all reporting nations, rates were on the rise, even in developed nations like the U.S., Australia and the U.K. where HIV is declining overall.

In fact, says Beyrer, income does not seem to matter when it comes to HIV trends among MSM. In the U.S., for example, infection rates among gay men have been increasing by 8% each year since 2001, contributing to a 15% prevalence rate and putting the U.S. on par with countries like Thailand, Malaysia and some African and Caribbean nations where neither awareness of HIV/AIDS nor drug treatments are as widespread. HIV prevalence rates among MSM in Brazil, Canada, Italy and India range between 11% and 15%, while many western European countries have lower rates of around 6%.

Public health experts have been concerned about the rising rates among MSM for years now, viewing the current epidemic as the second wave — the first having occurred in the 1980s. Today’s infections, they say, are affecting a new generation of men who didn’t live through the initial devastation of AIDS’s early days, when there were no drug treatments and a diagnosis was a death sentence. Public health messages about safe sex practices and testing targeted to gay men have waned in the intervening years, and now, some experts say, a new generation of at-risk men have to be educated about the disease.

HIV has always been more common among gay men, but Beyrer and his colleagues say the traditional risk factors may not entirely explain the surge in many cases. Traditionally, HIV experts have pointed to high-risk behaviors such as unprotected sex, having multiple partners, injection drug use and drug use in general for making gay men more vulnerable to infection. But there may be biological reasons for the enhanced risk as well. For example, there is an 18 times greater risk of HIV transmission through anal sex than through vaginal sex, which may explain why the virus continues to thrive in gay men, despite the fact that they still receive the bulk of HIV awareness and treatment public-health messages. “If HIV infection in MSM is heavily biologically determined, do present approaches to HIV programming for MSM, which rely heavily on information, education and behavior change strategies, make sense?” the authors write. “The epidemiology suggests that urgent reform is needed.”

That’s why the latest data on using HIV treatments to protect healthy people from infection, a strategy known as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), are of particular interest to public health experts. In another paper in the Lancet series, researchers estimate that about 25% of new infections among MSM might be avoided if prevention practices such as PrEP could be combined with existing strategies, such as safe sex counseling and condom use.

But the key to making these efforts work is in bringing the health care community on board. In another paper in the series, researchers document the fact that many health care providers aren’t trained or equipped to screen, treat or advise gay men about their HIV risk. In some countries, stigma about HIV continues to thwart physicians’ ability to provide adequate care to MSM at risk of infection. “Optimum clinical care for sexual and gender minorities is a fundamental human right, and the support of health care professionals is needed for its provision,” write the authors.

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Just by reading the misinformation posted in the comments under this article one can clearly tell that HIV/AIDs education is still lacking. We need to be spending time and energy into educating everyone, not just gays about the transmission of HIV/AIDS and promoting safer sex and safer intravenous drug use. Discrimination and stigmatizing HIV/AIDs or the risky behaviors associated with it are not going to help promote safer behaviors in the future. Discrimination and stigmatizing it will only work against efforts to combat the spread by causing people to lie and be secretive about such behavior further delaying their getting tested and delay their care if positive.

@VeronicaEarly I guess that point justifies everything!!! Almost like a child whining...but they did it too...in an effort to shift blame! How clever!

You're just another gay apologist who wants to say everyone is being hateful and discriminatory when someone calls AIDS a gay disease. Since you seem to know so much about it, why are you wasting your time posting on internet message boards instead of getting people help? Educating people about common sense isn't my cup of tea, but those who can't do teach right?

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By the way ! Prostitution is illegal in many countries but does that help? It does not matter legal/illegal. Also in the U.S. there's many things going on . Also in the U.S. there's unprotected barebacksex with prostitutes but heterosexual men can't get tested cut what if the doctor or anyone else will find out about the sex with the prostitue? Jail?

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And who paid for these *cough* "scientific" experiments? I don't see any sources cited. As usual, this is nothing more than conjecture and simple selective sampling which is in no way "scientific" nor accurate. If this is truly fact, then why hide the sources or the samples? The only larger pile of steaming BS is the bible itself.

@SamSpade1@willi828 Your calculations are flawed, not to mention outright false. HIV rate? How did they calculate this number? How do they know how many men total are in that sample? You can't go slapping errant numbers on things and adding them up to make it sound scary and actually expect people to buy it. Do you know that the CDC estimates that 18% of the entire infected population doesn't yet know they are infected? ~200,000 people makeup that demographic. You're citing rates (incorrectly) that are for a specific year. The actual source:

Although MSM represent about 4% of the male population in the United States,4 in 2010, MSM accounted for 78% of new HIV infections among males and 63% of all new infections.2 MSM accounted for 52% of all people living with HIV infection in 2009, the most recent year these data are available.1

So in the first few years of collecting data, this is what the data is showing. Not, 63% of gay men are infected... 63% of NEW infections report that they've had sex with a man IN 2010 (ONLY).

The medical industry has a poor reputation for fair treatment of homosexuals. Especially the last generation (those in charge). The HIV mutation was first introduced during a human testing immunization experiment in the 80s in NYC–specifically only injected into homosexuals.

@willi828 - Even if you dismiss the Bible , the health stats speak for themselves. In 2008, the HIV rate among msm (men who have sex with men) in the USA was at 58%. According to the CDC, over 63% of msm are now infected with HIV/AIDS, with another 18% who are also infected but won't know it until they become chronically sick. This means that 81% of all homosexual and bisexual men in the USA are now infected. Most young gay men and youths between the ages of 13 to 24 will be dead before the age of 50. S who says that "gay" relationships are normal? In Vancouver, Canada, msm are responsible for 95% of all new syphilis cases. Considering that msm are in the minority regardless of which country they live in, these figures should horrify everyone.

@kara.mccollum1 @willi828willi is right, although only 2% of the population are "gay," they are hit with 63% of new infections, meaning that they are infected more often. Probably because of what this article says - it's easier to become infected with anal sex.

2% of all straight men in the US have HIV, while 20% of gay men currently are infected with this disease.

And remember that homosexual men make up less than 5% of the population. When you do all the math, there are just as many straights with HIV and aids as gays.

The difference is that most gays know when they have it because they get tested responsibly. More than half of the heterosexual infections are lurking in the shadows.

Let's also not dismiss that humans are sexual by nature, and mostly bisexual. "Straight," married men often have sex with gay men. Now you're mixing the pot, and we can understand why the cdc calls this Demo MSM

God created the anus for feces to pass through. It is the exit point for what is commonly called "shit". It is an abomination to insert your penis into a man's rectum and convince yourself that it is natural and pleasurable. It is nasty and unnatural and God destroyed Sodom and the surrounding cities because of it. Read Genesis 18 and 19. He will again rain fire and brimstone on those who practice these deviant sexual behaviours.

". It is an abomination to insert your penis into a man's rectum and convince yourself that it is natural and pleasurable."

Yes the bible does clearly condemn homosexual practice, but it does not condemn analsex as a sexual practice between man and wife. Yes it is wrong to insert your penis into a man's rectum, but it is also just as wrong to insert that penis into another man's mouth or if they masturbate each other. There are many gay men out there that does not participate in analsex, but they are just as homosexual as to they who do. So it is not analsex in itself that is wrong according to the bible, but any act of homosexuality.

"...that it is natural and pleasurable"

Natural? What is natural when it comes to sex? Sex in itself has been created so we can reproduce ourself. That is its main purpose, and for that one needs a penis and a vagina. But does that mean other types of sexual activities are wrong because it does not leads to children being born? No, not according to the bible. We as humans have a right to choose if we want babies or not and therfore can have sex that does not lead to pregnancy. If the truth was the opposite, it would mean that oralsex also is unnatural since it does not lead to pregnancy. It would also means using a condom (or other contraceptives) would be unnatural since it does not lead to pregnancy. Also have a sex with a pregnant wife would also be unnatural since it does not lead to futher pregnancy and having sex with a sterile spouse would be unnatural since it does not lead to pregnancy etc etc... It would mean that every time a man has sex with his wife, it most be to reproduce firstly and then pleasure as second. Does the bible teach such things? No not at all. We have the right to choose how we use our sex life which include what we do and we also have to right to say no to children, but still have sex in marriage. The only requirement there is, is according to the bible that a man and woman must be married to each other and they must keep their wedding bed clean of adultery.

And another side to what is natural or not. Is it natural for human to swim? or to be under water? If it where we would have had gills so that we could breath under water. But we don't, and when something happen wrong, we can easly lose our life to this practice that we often do just for fun. So is swimming and diving an abomination and unnatural then? We are clearly not meant to be there and it can be very dangerous. What about space? That are even worse since there is not oxygen or gravity there. We are not made for that either, so is it wrong to be in space too?

The answer to this is of course no. Not in itself. If you use something wrongly (like taking a hammer and use it to hurt people instead of building a house) then yes you can say it is wrong, but you can't say that about an act itself. So analsex is wrong if it happens outside of marriage, but not if it happens in marriage between a man and a woman.

"It is nasty"

Here you ar using your feelings and act like that you are God, but infact you are just a human being who have no right to judge or condemn no one. You are within your rights to think certain things are nasty (I think brussels sprouts are nasty) but you have no such right as to condemn an act in itself as nasty like it is some kind of truth that all other should also regard as nasty. Just becuase I think brussels sprouts are nasty does not mean I have the right to judge and condemn people how think they are lovely and a joy to eat.

"God destroyed Sodom and the surrounding cities because of it. Read Genesis 18 and 19. He will again rain fire and brimstone on those who practice these deviant sexual behaviours."

God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because they practiced alot of evil things and not only of the sexual kind such as homosexuality and sex with animals.

In 1985, I worked for several doctors who were treating AIDS patients. They were in the forefront of AIDS treatment. They even did some of the protocal testing for new drugs around 1995. Sadly, I never heard anyone of those doctors warning the patients to protect themselves by curtailing their sexual activity. It breaks my heart that so many have needlessly died, because doctors were not telling the public that the typical sexual activities that gay men particiate in put them at an extremely high risk of contracting AIDS. Even the Center for Disease Control (CDC) states that one certain popular activity is SO dangerous, it should not be practiced at all. BUT, do you hear any of this in the news? No, we hear about all other forms of health issues, except this issue, which could save so many lives. Thanks medical profession, thanks media, thanks to political correctness.

@SarahMorris2010 It's quite simple. To suggest AIDS is linked to an excessive and abnormal lifestyle would not entail receiving billions of dollars in federal grants. If however you convince most of the population through subtle and effective propaganda it is an insidious virus that could strike anyone, then you are as we say here in the UK "quids in". The pharmaceuticals and the academics bought by them (Gallo et al) have a lot to answer for. They have the deaths of thousands on their conscience through prescribing deadly chemotherapies like AZT to perfectly healthy people. Amazingly, it is still left to brave individuals like Peter Duesberg and Kary Mullis to point this out. One day the entire pack of cards will come tumbling down and hopefully the bad guys will meet a sticky end.

Start testing heterosexuals like the gays are being used for 'social responsibility'. You'll soon change your mind about thinking it's a gay thing. But everyone thinks you're straight, you're ok or better than one whose gay. Not so fast!!!

A lot of you are missing the point. AIDS is a virus spread as the result of risky behavior that can include unprotected sex, intravenous drug use and infection of blood supply. Whether someone is homosexual or heterosexual is irrelevant.

The fact is that those in social work, health care and research know full well a cure already exists: behavior modification.

Heart disease kills more people in the USA per year than all other diseases, including cancers and AIDS, combined (source:

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-20... among many many others). To a large extent heart disease is based on behavior which needs to be modified. But it's also hereditary due to genetics and birth defects that having no link to lifestyle. You can't say that about AIDS.

You also can't say that AIDS is caused by exposure to prolonged outside sources such as asbestos, high magnetic fields and radiation like some cancers. Humans are not genetically predisposed to carry the virus unless it's transferred from the mother to the fetus during pregnancy.

Every life threatening disease gives a reason to find a cure through medicine. AIDS doesn't need one as it can be eradicated through behavior modification.

Behavior modification works. Atul Gawnde writing in his book Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance about visiting a village where the people were susceptible to a worm in their water supply that would cause extreme pain and wounds to their gut and legs. The social workers taught the village women to filter the water through the skirts of their dresses to prevent the eggs and parasites from remaining in the water. Every once in a while someone would become ill and they would re-educate them to modify their behavior. It took some time but eliminated the problem.

Unfortunately, AIDS is tied to behavior that is rooted in addiction or close, unprotected human contact. Both of these can be hard, and impossible for some, to modify. But that doesn't mean we give up and throw money at a problem for which there's already a cure.

I don't know anyone who has died of AIDS but I am related to two people who have HIV and it's from their past life history. Neither of them were forced to live the lives they did. They admit it, and they wish they would have done something different. Fortunately their children are not in danger. But, being human, we're all weak and don't always make the right decisions. I pray they remain healthy and that their HIV remains dormant.

Just my opinion, not looking for a political discussion, but always interested in other people's respectful points of view.

I live in South Africa and we have a LOT of hiv/aids cases and there are a lot of related deaths. Here it definitely has a lot more to do with education than a specific sexual preference. I happened to design campaign material for http://www.satregional.org/ last week and the message of the importance of education is always the same. It is possible that the pool of choices for gay guys are a lot less which would increase their odds of meeting an HIV+ partner, but at the end of the day it still comes down to knowing your status and being open about it. Gay guys specifically will have to be more vigilant.

Yeah, I laid out a simple way for people to avoid catching HIV and the moderator would't post it. That right there tells you why people still aren't educated on prevention when we're too embarrassed to talk about it.

Just a thought. Universe is built base on balance..for every pair there is an opposite side. Man and woman. Left and Right. Up and down.Front and back etc.. Imbalance in anything will cause disaster. PERIOD!

Always use condoms for anal sex. Don't have oral sex if you have a sore or cut in your mouth. Avoid cum or pre-cum in mouth. If people would just do those three things, this disease would disappear amoung gay men.

thats whate happen when you think with your stick. instead of your brain.. but its also a of immorality. I believe God created aids in order to punish the people of the world for its sexual immorality. And people cannot kill this virus like most STDs. no cure can be found. its time that people get there heads together and repent. and change you r habits. by doing this. stds and aids could be eradicated in one generation

Gay Sex will always be a primary source for the spread of HIV/AIDS. Everywhere. Point blank period. It is unnatural for a penis to go inside of another human's anal cavity. The anus is not physically capable of handling the abrasive act of anal sex, tears will occur, viruses and other ickes will be transmitted. The only way to Lower instances of HIV/AIDS in the gay population is for gay men to wear condoms EVERY time, or to stop engaging in gay sex all together. Take it or leave it.

I guess this is one reason why I am not necessarily feeling gay marriage. And for the black community, this celebration of another bisexual, formerly in the closet, black male (Frank Ocean) kind of troubles me. Especially, given the way HIV continues to devastate the African-American community. The facts speak for themselves at this time.

TIME'S RUBBISH-HIV first appeared in Africa. I had no idea all of Africa was gay! Gosh, better not go there because this magazine tells me that this is true; so it must be!

FACT-HIV is more prevalent in heterosexuals worldwide than in homosexuals or bisexuals.

TESTIMONY-My bud received a lovely gift of HIV-1 from a female this year because he thought having sex with females was safest. He also received crabs and scabies five years ago from 2 different women because he thought they were safer in sex. Hes bisexual and has had sex with more men than women, by far. To this day, hes never been transmitted any STD's from men.

THE REAL DEAL-I'm happily married to a wonderful women of six years I have three kids and I work in the wonderful world of pathology. What you're reading in this magazine is just one individuals perspective with bias standards for journalism. I wouldn't be surprised if TIME magazine itself wasn't up to no good.

1980-1996-HIV is a gay disease and heterosexuals dissociate themselves with the disease. More cases of HIV are reported in the homosexual/bisexual community than heterosexual community. 90% of heterosexuals are still untested with the majority only finding out they have it at the peak of the HIV cycle. Conservatism push's for the idea of a gay disease rather than a combination of sorts. Science proves a more qualified standard.

2000-82% of heterosexuals are still untested. Speculations evolve over a hidden cure repressed by WHO.

2005- HIV is no longer a gay disease, worldwide its a pandemic alike past viral predators. HIV has no cure or vaccine and does not discriminate. 48% of heterosexuals are still untested. 86% of homosexual/bisexual individuals are tested. With 8 out of 10 homosexuals/bisexuals scientifically knowing their status. 7 out of 10 heterosexual have no idea.

2012-HIV is know by all as a viral disease that causes AIDS. Treatments are readily available for the suppression of HIV. Living with HIV becomes a lot like living with diabetes. Individuals who follow treatment are not likely to find death from this virus. Just as diabetic individuals are less likely to have to hop on one leg if their treatments are followed. Advances in medicine are pushing faster for a cure with STEM-CELL/GENE THERAPIES being held in clinical trials throughout the world. One man is so-far, cured from HIV. More heterosexuals are being tested throughout the world. With some governments requiring it by law. The homosexual/bisexual community is given praise for their actions for the fight against HIV/AIDS with their continued support in the efforts. Some heterosexuals remain ignorant to HIV. Media and bias scientific research still remains neglectful.

THE FUTURE- Only time can tell, but what remains the same. Individuals everywhere need to realize their sources for information regarding HIV/AIDS research. Entrusting in a magazine is as faithful as discovering you have HIV through an ELISA test. Be SMART and stay EDUCATED.